FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[USee]

I don't think the term "over rated" is exclusive to the polls Pat. I would offer "over hyped" as an alternative adjective. Though that's mostly emanating from a very passionate and loyal fan base.

[Pat Coleman]

I don't think the term "over rated" is exclusive to the polls Pat. I would offer "over hyped" as an alternative adjective. Though that's mostly emanating from a very passionate and loyal fan base.

Fair. Still, they were over-ranked.

[robertgoulet]

Rough couple of months for the NCC family with Coach Thorne's battle with cancer and now Al Carius passing due to cancer. I know Carius wasn't a football coach but he had a big reach with all NCC athletes due to the classes he taught.

[USee]

HansenRatings has projections for this week:

NCC 41
UWO 14
95% for NCC win

[Gregory Sager]

Rough couple of months for the NCC family with Coach Thorne's battle with cancer and now Al Carius passing due to cancer. I know Carius wasn't a football coach but he had a big reach with all NCC athletes due to the classes he taught.

We won't see anyone like Al Carius around the CCIW again, I don't think. For all of his accomplishments as North Central's x-country and t&f coach -- the more you look at them, the more they stagger the imagination -- what most people mention when they talk about him is what an affirming, positive impression he made upon everyone who ever sat under his tutelage or even just had a mere conversation with him. All of the North Park x-country and t&f people I know who've encountered Al over the years have never had anything but great things to say about him.

The CCIW has lost two real giants this year in Wheaton's Joe Bean and North Central's Al Carius, two men who left a tremendous mark upon both their schools and upon the conference as a whole.

[CarollFan]

CCIW notes on all the games the first week.
CCIW Notebook

Some highlights from Wheaton vs. UMU.  Not sure about how they decided to edit this...

[Pat Coleman]

The highlight reels that Mount Union has put out over the past several years have only included Mount Union highlights, so we should be glad that this has Wheaton's scores.

[BIGBLUE BEN]

Longtime member but had to create a new account because I lost my password and it would not send me new one!

Big Win for the Big Blue Saturday! (1st in 2 years) funny enough it was on one of only 4 other BLUE fields in the country (Luther College & Boise st, University of New Haven and University of New England). I do not know if anyone has mentioned this, but Millikin had 83 Freshman this year and that did not include the handful of transfer READY STARTERS they got as well who made an instant impact Saturday.

Sam Houston St Transfer Sylas Gomez (JR) looked the part Saturday and will be the best Millikin QB talent since Nicco Stepina (2015-2018). He has special arm talent traits and also has the ability to extend plays and scramble with his feet. I know it was only one game but he looked like a very seasoned QB and only made one bad throw Saturday which luckily was a dropped INT. The Freshman RB Re'John Zeno from Lousianna also impressed and his speed and athletism is something Millikin has not had in a half decade at the RB position. The WR looked better than I was expecting and will give some teams trouble with their YAC abilities. As for the O-line... MAJOR improvement/beef up. We just look bigger and stronger than in the last 3-4 years.

I don't know how they did it, but Billy Riebock and this coaching staff has totally revamped the look of this team in just one offseason. They look like a traditional CCIW team again with the size/speed that you would expect from a middle of the pack CCIW team. Picked Pre-season #9 I think will be a motivating factor for the Big Blue all season and after watching some of the other games around the conference, I think Millikn will be in ALOT of these conference games. I think they absolutely can and will go beat North Park next week in Chicago.

In conclusion, very impressed what I saw from the Big Blue and excited for what is to come for these guys this season and beyond!

Go Big Blue

[CarollFan]

Longtime member but had to create a new account because I lost my password and it would not send me new one!

Big Win for the Big Blue Saturday! (1st in 2 years) funny enough it was on one of only 4 other BLUE fields in the country (Luther College & Boise st, University of New Haven and University of New England). I do not know if anyone has mentioned this, but Millikin had 83 Freshman this year and that did not include the handful of transfer READY STARTERS they got as well who made an instant impact Saturday.

Sam Houston St Transfer Sylas Gomez (JR) looked the part Saturday and will be the best Millikin QB talent since Nicco Stepina (2015-2018). He has special arm talent traits and also has the ability to extend plays and scramble with his feet. I know it was only one game but he looked like a very seasoned QB and only made one bad throw Saturday which luckily was a dropped INT. The Freshman RB Re'John Zeno from Lousianna also impressed and his speed and athletism is something Millikin has not had in a half decade at the RB position. The WR looked better than I was expecting and will give some teams trouble with their YAC abilities. As for the O-line... MAJOR improvement/beef up. We just look bigger and stronger than in the last 3-4 years.

I don't know how they did it, but Billy Riebock and this coaching staff has totally revamped the look of this team in just one offseason. They look like a traditional CCIW team again with the size/speed that you would expect from a middle of the pack CCIW team. Picked Pre-season #9 I think will be a motivating factor for the Big Blue all season and after watching some of the other games around the conference, I think Millikn will be in ALOT of these conference games. I think they absolutely can and will go beat North Park next week in Chicago.

In conclusion, very impressed what I saw from the Big Blue and excited for what is to come for these guys this season and beyond!

Go Big Blue

Welcome back BigBlue Ben and Millikin.
We were discussing in previous messages the roster turnover and noticeable improvement. Oh yes and the 31 year old kicker.

Going to Chicago and beating NPU, I think would be considered an upset. NPU played well first game and has some pretty good WR's but love the optimism. Could be a good one.

[USee]

The highlight reels that Mount Union has put out over the past several years have only included Mount Union highlights, so we should be glad that this has Wheaton's scores.

hmmmm. Pat, you probably didn't watch the reel, which is understandable. I don't think he was referring to the choice of content. Whoever put this together might have done so late at night after returning from the pub. Punts, kickoff returns, partial plays, and an abrupt and random ending. Very strange at best.

[Cardinal773]

...what most people mention when they talk about him is what an affirming, positive impression he made upon everyone who ever sat under his tutelage or even just had a mere conversation with him...

Yep. I can certainly count myself among them.  This moment just reminds me of how impactful and special the coach/athlete relationship can be.  The guys at D3Football often highlight the positive impact coaches have on their athletes and we appreciate that work.

So, yeah.  We're only on this earth for a short time.  Try to be a person who strives to make a positive impression and encourage everyone around you to be their best version of themselves.  You don't have to be an award winning coach to be remembered in this way.

[Pat Coleman]

The highlight reels that Mount Union has put out over the past several years have only included Mount Union highlights, so we should be glad that this has Wheaton's scores.

hmmmm. Pat, you probably didn't watch the reel, which is understandable. I don't think he was referring to the choice of content. Whoever put this together might have done so late at night after returning from the pub. Punts, kickoff returns, partial plays, and an abrupt and random ending. Very strange at best.

I did watch the highlights, but had the sound off because I'm at the office today. Agreed that it was an abrupt ending, but it was not one-sided, which would have been typical for a Mount Union-produced highlight video. If Flo had chosen to only include highlights of its client team, that would have been really bad.

[USee]

After watching the Mt/Wheaton Replay more carefully, I am more optimistic about the Thunder this season. They were not overmatched up front on either side and did some very good things. We held the Mt Union rushing attack to 4 yds per carry and averaged 6 yds per carry on our limited number of called runs. The sacks we gave up were mostly busted protections (vs getting manhandled) and our DLine sacked Maloney 4x (2 were called runs as the tackles happened just over the LOS). Wheaton has a couple inexperienced corners that had trouble handling the Raiders speed, which along with Maloney's excellent performance, was the main difference in the game.

As far as the 4th quarter, Mt Union never subbed out their first team defense and Wheaton put up 22 4th quarter pts. 2 other drives in the first half stalled in the red zone on downs. Wheaton's offense mostly stopped themselves Saturday. We got a couple stops in the 3rd quarter against the starting UMU offense, which was encouraging. Mt Union did sub their QB and RB/WR's at the start of the 4th quarter (though the entire starting  OL played the whole game) and Wheaton was able to get a couple stops, enabling the come back.

I think the Thunder are definitely a top 20 team and maybe closer to top 10 than I previously thought. Augie and their new QB will be a test in Rock Island as the Thunder secondary is the primary concern right now.

[Cardinal773]

HansenRatings has projections for this week:
95% for NCC win

Look, no one wants the Cardinals to win more than me.  But this seems excessive.  There are so many new faces and it's their first game of the season.  UWO has already been tested by linfield (maybe not LINFIELD Linfield, just linfield Linfield).  A win would be great, but as sacrilegious as it may sound, a tight game or even a hard-fought loss might do them some good.  Everyone needs to learn a little more about themselves.

[Gregory Sager]

Longtime member but had to create a new account because I lost my password and it would not send me new one!

Big Win for the Big Blue Saturday! (1st in 2 years) funny enough it was on one of only 4 other BLUE fields in the country (Luther College & Boise st, University of New Haven and University of New England). I do not know if anyone has mentioned this, but Millikin had 83 Freshman this year and that did not include the handful of transfer READY STARTERS they got as well who made an instant impact Saturday.

Sam Houston St Transfer Sylas Gomez (JR) looked the part Saturday and will be the best Millikin QB talent since Nicco Stepina (2015-2018). He has special arm talent traits and also has the ability to extend plays and scramble with his feet. I know it was only one game but he looked like a very seasoned QB and only made one bad throw Saturday which luckily was a dropped INT. The Freshman RB Re'John Zeno from Lousianna also impressed and his speed and athletism is something Millikin has not had in a half decade at the RB position. The WR looked better than I was expecting and will give some teams trouble with their YAC abilities. As for the O-line... MAJOR improvement/beef up. We just look bigger and stronger than in the last 3-4 years.

I don't know how they did it, but Billy Riebock and this coaching staff has totally revamped the look of this team in just one offseason. They look like a traditional CCIW team again with the size/speed that you would expect from a middle of the pack CCIW team. Picked Pre-season #9 I think will be a motivating factor for the Big Blue all season and after watching some of the other games around the conference, I think Millikn will be in ALOT of these conference games. I think they absolutely can and will go beat North Park next week in Chicago.

In conclusion, very impressed what I saw from the Big Blue and excited for what is to come for these guys this season and beyond!

Go Big Blue

Welcome back BigBlue Ben and Millikin.
We were discussing in previous messages the roster turnover and noticeable improvement. Oh yes and the 31 year old kicker.

Going to Chicago and beating NPU, I think would be considered an upset.

Going to Chicago and beating NPU wouldn't be an upset. It would be an indication that we have somehow shifted into an alternate universe. That's because the game is going to be played in Decatur, not Chicago.